CTW stands for “carat total weight” and is applied to the actual carat weight of several pieces of diamonds like those found in a jewelry piece.  A necklace for example that has 10 diamond pieces may be labelled to have a specific CTW or carat total weight value. This value simply refers to the total weight or total carats of all 10 diamond pieces.  Some pieces may be bigger than the others and may also be heavier in terms of its own carat weight, but when talking about CTW or ctw, all the pieces of diamonds are measured and weighed for its valuation.

Carat is the term when measuring the weight of diamond pieces.  It is one of the so-called 4 C’s of choosing the most precious and the highest quality of diamonds.  Aside from carat, the other important aspects in choosing diamonds are cut, clarity, and color.  All these attributes are very important in terms of classifying diamond pieces as high grade or medium or low quality.  When it comes to weight, carat is the official term used and it literally represents 200 milligrams of actual diamond weight.  The bigger the diamond is, regardless of its cut, color, and quality, the bigger the value of its carat weight will be.  Carat may only be applied to one diamond piece.  This may be applicable to jewelry pieces like rings, earrings, and necklace pendants that may only have one diamond piece.  For jewelry and other items that contain multiple or several diamond pieces, people should look at the CTW or carat total weight value.

Some jewellers also use the term TCW or total carat weight instead of CTW.  These two terms are similar and refer to the same thing which is the total carat weight of all diamond pieces in a bracelet or necklace for example.  Aside from diamonds, some jewellers also use the term CTW in terms of describing the total mass of other precious gems and stones like sapphires, rubies, and emeralds for example.